Syndicate Bank case: 2 bail pleas rejected

A Delhi court on Thursday dismissed the bail pleas of chairman and managing director (CMD) of Prakash Industries Ltd and its director who, along with others, were arrested in the Syndicate Bank bribery case.

Special CBI judge Swarana Kanta Sharma has also issued a notice to initiate Proclaimed Offender proceedings against accused Purushotam Totlani, who is alleged to be a Bhushan Steel employee and close aide of BSL’s vice-chairman and co-accused Neeraj Singal.

CBI has previously alleged that Totlani is an integral part of the scam and is allegedly in possession of the bribe money paid by BSL to Syndicate Bank MD SK Jain.

Refusing to take a lenient view, the court said the CMD of Prakash Industries Ltd — Ved Prakash Agarwal and its director Vipul Agarwal’s bail application had to be rejected in the interests of ensuring a fair investigation since the CBI’s probe was still at an early stage and witnesses were being summoned from within the country and foreign nations.

Responding to arguments submitted by the Aggarwals’ counsel that the duo had not been charged with any serious offences, the court said the offence was more serious than others as it “was against the public and the entire country.”

“It is sad that in the race to become richer, people do not even hesitate to adopt illegal means to obtain huge loans, and the present case is a classic example of this,” said the judge.